GLENWOOD CANYON, Colo. – A rock the size of a car slammed down onto the westbound lanes of Interstate 70 around 6 a.m. this morning. No one was injured, but a Glenwood Springs motorist reported having a very close call.

The rock slid off the hillside just west of the Shoshone Power Plant, where rockfall netting protects the roadway.

“It came from very low on the hillside, from just below the rockfall netting,” said Nancy Shanks, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Transportation.

Without the velocity of a big fall, the rock just left a foot-deep pothole in the roadway. It did not punch through the bridge decking, Shanks said.

CDOT’s control team in the Hanging Lake Tunnel command center closed the westbound lanes at the Hanging Lake Tunnel at 6:15 a.m., assessed the situation, and then reopened the westbound right lane only.

They then closed the westbound lanes again and used heavy equipment to push the rock across the road and onto the right shoulder. Traffic was allowed through in the left lane.

By midday, CDOT crews has blasted the rock into pieces and had hauled them away by 1:45 p.m. After making a pass with the snowplow, CDOT reopened both lanes to travel shortly after 2 p.m.